unit 8—jesus and the blind man seeing the...

Unit 8—Jesus and the Blind Man

Key Quest Verse

John 9:1-12

“For God, who said, ‘Light shall shine out of darkness,’ is the One who has shone in our hearts to

give the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.” 2 Corinthians 4:6

At the time of our text some people, including disciples of Jesus, thought that all problems re-

sulted from sin. (They may have been guided by texts like Exodus 15:26, where God promised

that if the people were obedient none of the plagues which came on Egypt would be put on

them.) At this time in Palestine many people were blinded by illnesses during their lives. The dis-

ciples had seen Jesus heal people, and also had heard Him tell people that their sins were for-

given. This did not upset their beliefs about sin and illness. But in Jerusalem they encountered a

man who had been born blind, and this puzzled them. Had he been made blind in anticipation of

his own sinfulness (and what was bad enough to get punished in advance for it?), or was he pun-

ished for someone else’s sin (Jeremiah 31:29, 30 promised a time when this wouldn’t happen, but

when was that time to be?)

Jesus did not directly argue with this understanding of sin and punishment, instead He healed the man. In effect Jesus said that it is not God’s will to give in to sin and loss and simply assign blame, but rather to overcome these things.

Text

Bible Background

Unit 8-TA-C-1

Seeing the Light

By: Daniel Smead


Leader’s Devotion

What I want my students to:

Know: That Jesus treats blindness (literal or figurative) as an opportunity to show God’s power,

not place blame.

Feel: Confidence that Jesus is for them, and will cut through questions and problems to help

them.

Do: Trust Jesus, accept His help, and work with Jesus to serve people without blaming them.

[Note: if you actually have a blind student in your class, you will need to change how you frame much of the discussion for several of the activities of this lesson. In fact, if you have a blind per-son in your congregation who is comfortable doing so, it might well be worth having them talk with your class about how they get around, etc., rather than using one or more of the activities.]

We don’t read in the Old Testament of anyone healing natural blindness (Elisha did pray for

some foreign soldiers to temporarily be unable to see, and then prayed for them to see again; 2

Kings 6:18-20), but Isaiah prophesied that the day would come when the blind would see (for

example in Isaiah 35:5; 42:7). By giving sight to the blind Jesus gave evidence that He was the

Messiah (Luke 7:20-22). But in John 9 Jesus did not simply prove again that He was the prom-

ised Messiah; Jesus made a point about who that Messiah really is — a minister of God’s light in

all situations, regardless of flaws or fault.

The disciples asked a question about blame which is not out of date. Many people still pin the

blame for problems on sin, or claim that their health or their success shows that God likes them.

It can be particularly hard for Christians who believe this to deal with being sick or injured —

“does God not care anymore?” they may ask. When we sin we can cause ourselves problems, but

sometimes problems occur without any sin being behind them. The main thing to remember is

that Jesus is not concerned about assigning blame, Jesus wants to bring light and life to everyone. God’s work was done through healing the blind man, but that work had a larger impact than just in his life. Jesus’ healing action had effects through others’ awareness of what was done, with the disciples, and with several groups of people later in the chapter, and over centuries through John’s gospel. We can still have a difficult time accepting the idea that God permitted blindness just so it could be removed. But God is not blind, and sees a much bigger picture than we do. God’s servant Paul said that all we suffer now is not worth comparing to the glory that will be revealed in the future (Romans 8:18). This can be hard to take if we are in the middle of problems, or particularly if someone we love is the one doing the suffering. But we have to trust that the same divine power that can heal is able to make everything worthwhile as well.

Lesson Quest

Unit 8-TA-C-2


Alternative Reality

Materials: None

Procedure: The following provides questions for your students to consider and offer some re-

sponses to. The point is to get them to really consider the situations, so don’t rush through this.

With the first question a few suggested possibilities are offered for them to consider, and they can

give their own. With the second question you should let students come up with thoughts of their

own before relating the author’s ideas.

If suddenly you were blind, what things would you most miss seeing?

sunsets? art? your reflection? someone else’s face?

If you were no longer able to see, some things would be harder for you to do; which do you

think would bother you the most?

[Here are some possible comments to use on changes your students would experience if blind, to

relay to them after they have offered their own suggestions. If they came up with many sugges-

tions on their own it may not be necessary to use this paragraph before going on.

You might use a seeing eye dog to get around, but you would never drive on the street. You

might use Braille to read, but there would be many books and signs that you wouldn’t be

able to read. Going to the movies or listening to a television show would be a much different

experience. Using the Internet would be a lot more difficult, and few video games would be

playable. You could still recognize your friends, but you wouldn’t know as easily if they

were coming in the distance. In classes you could never read the chalkboard, and you

wouldn’t take notes the same way. Many jobs would not be open to you. You wouldn’t per-

ceive body language, like knowing if someone was smiling or frowning when they spoke to

you, but their tone of voice might be something you really noticed. It might be harder to

trust people. You might find you needed to trust and rely on some people even more.]

If you had never been able to see, how would your life be different than it is?

After your students have offered suggestions on the third question, you might relay these ideas.

Feel free to use your own words: If you had never seen at all, there would be huge areas of

everyday life which you might not understand at all. So much is wrapped up with sight that

people have a hard time grasping the effects of blindness unless they are or have been blind.

You wouldn’t have any experience with stars. You wouldn’t know what colors are. You

might not even be able to understand the idea of light as opposed to darkness. In our lesson

we will be considering one blind man’s encounter with Jesus. It is a short story in the Bible,

and it could be easy to miss how big a change Jesus made in this man’s life. But it was a

huge change.

Option A

GO TO THE BIBLE STORY

Unit 8-TA-C-3


Taking Attendance

Materials: Chalkboard and chalk, or other method of listing items for all to read

Procedure: Ask your students to tell you what they did last week. It may be necessary to draw

them out on specifics for this exercise. Write down various activities on the board or a flipchart

(for example if they watched television, went to the movies, went driving, went out to eat pizza,

went swimming). Once you have a fairly large list, ask them to consider how these activities de-

pended on their senses (sight - visual, touch - tactile, smell - olfactory, hearing - auditory, taste -

gustatory). You might note with letters next to activities which senses were most tied up with

each one. The list will probably be lopsided in favor of activities which emphasize the visual and

auditory. Have the students try to remember from certain of these activities what their less

“involved” senses were perceiving during each one. For example, what did they smell while busy

using their hearing at a concert?; what did they touch while taking a spelling exam?; what did

they taste while reading a book? Your students may have difficulty recalling these sensations

days later — one reason they would recall them is if they stood out at the time as an annoyance.

In some situations we are attentive to certain sensations more than we are to others. It may not stand out to us at all that our mouths taste flavors or our noses pick up scents while we

are concentrating on our vision or hearing. We may not even notice what we are looking at while we savor a hamburger. It may also be, however, that we can be greatly distracted by

an “irrelevant” sense when we are trying to focus on a different one, like smelling bleach in a grocery aisle while we are considering what foods we want to buy, or having an itch dur-

ing a lecture at school. In our Bible story today a man receives the sense of sight from Je-sus, but in such a way that he does not see Jesus. He would have been used to identifying

people by the sound of their voices, but a little later in the chapter he meets Jesus again and does not initially know Him — perhaps he was too distracted by what he could now see to

be able to focus on what he could hear. The ability he now had to see was going to take some time and effort to coordinate with his other abilities.

When a person becomes a Christian they begin to recognize and focus on many things that

were not significant to them before, and they can continue to be distracted by many things

that they might wish not to be interested in at all any more. But people who are serious

about loving Jesus and being loved by Jesus can’t beat themselves up over the past, and

they can’t just pass on investing time and energy in being prepared for the future.

GO TO THE BIBLE STORY

Unit 8-TA-C-4

Option B


Teacher Tip: Provide markers for students to highlight portions of the story in their Bibles

See instruction at the end of the Bible Story.

John 9:1-12 (NIV)

As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who

sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”

“Neither this man nor his parents sinned,”

said Jesus, “but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life. As

long as it is day, we must do the work of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one

can work. While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”

Having said this, he spit on the ground, made some mud with the saliva, and put it on the

man’s eyes.

“Go,” he told him,

“wash in the Pool of Siloam”

(this word means Sent). So the man went and washed, and came home seeing. His neighbors

and those who had formerly seen him begging asked,

“Isn’t this the same man who used to sit and beg?”

Some claimed that he was. Others said,

“No, he only looks like him.”

But he himself insisted,

“I am the man.”

“How then were your eyes opened?”

they demanded. He replied,

“The man they call Jesus made some mud and put it on my eyes. He told me to go to Siloam

and wash. So I went and washed, and then I could see.”

“Where is this man?”

they asked him.

Bible Story

Unit 8-TA-C-5


“I don’t know,”

he said.

....

You might try acting out the story as a class, with different students reading the narration and

each part of dialogue. You will need: narrator, disciples, Jesus, blind man, neighbors. You can

combine roles as needed for the size of your class, or if your class is larger than the number of

parts require you could give the narration out in sections to different students (just label the text

in the margin).

You could use some chocolate pudding for mud (perhaps from a pudding cup) and let whoever

plays Jesus smear it on the face of a willing “blind man” (who should keep eyes tightly closed;

you might play one of these roles yourself to exercise more control in the situation). If you go the

pudding route that will also require that you have a bowl of water and a towel to simulate the

pool. You might consider not letting on to the other players that this will be part of the reenact-

ment (perhaps conceal the pudding cup in the pocket of a bathrobe provided as “costume” for

Jesus). Seeing this performed can really bring home the oddity of Jesus’ action.

When the story is finished point out to your students that while we don’t initially hear the blind

man give his opinion of Jesus we can suppose that he had faith from the start, given the fact that

he went along with all this.

Bible Story Cont.

Unit 8-TA-C-6


Quest Connection

CREATIVE WRITING

Materials: Pencils or pens; “Words to the Wise” worksheet — it has English expressions listed

on it in the top half, along with space for more expressions; on the bottom half of the worksheet

there are two columns, one labeled “What I haven’t always seen clearly” and one labeled “What I

am looking forward to”

Procedure: In English we speak about vision a lot. We connect blindness to many actions

which people take without enough thought or enough information to justify them, as with

some of the phrases on your worksheet (blind rage; blinded to reality). We advise people

“keep your eyes open” in possibly dangerous situations. Villains in stories even say that the

hero “won’t live to see tomorrow.” In the Old Testament God refers to bribery as an at-

tempt to get people to shut their eyes to wrongdoing. We find that vision is very important,

we rely on it. We even use vision as a metaphor for thought — we talk about “imagining”

(image-ing), or “visualizing” reality or the future or our hopes.

What are some other metaphors related to blindness or sight? [Give your students time to suggest some, and to write suggestions on their worksheets; you could have a timed race to write suggestions, and only then ask to hear them.]

In what ways have you been metaphorically blind to reality? Write some of these in the left

hand column at the bottom of your worksheet. [Broadly stated, the possibilities include not

recognizing God working in your life, or the blindness of choosing sin over doing right; but stu-

dents may write things which are more specific.] In the right hand column write some of the

things you are looking forward to seeing in the future. [Perhaps seeing Jesus and God; seeing

resurrected relatives; seeing the New Jerusalem; or in the shorter term a person seeing Disney

World, or their High School graduation, their wedding, or their own child.]

Paul said that even as Christians we don’t see everything clearly (1 Cor. 13:12), but we can

rely on Jesus’ love and trust that someday perfection will come and we will see fully. Jesus and God do not desire for people to remain blinded to truth, rather they are willing and

ready for us to see (James 1:5). Our Key Quest Verse this week says: “For God, who said, ‘Light shall shine out of darkness,’ is the One who has shone in our hearts to give the Light

of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.” 2 Corinthians 4:6. As with the man in the Bible story, Jesus has taken the initiative in offering us sight, and we need to

pick up the ball and follow through on what Jesus has told us to do and the opportunities that knowing Him open up for us.

Words to the Wise

Close

Unit 8-TA-C-7


FOOD Materials: One or more pieces of cloth to be used as blindfolds (decide if you need enough for your entire class to use separate ones); a number of small items for students to attempt to iden-tify while blindfolded — it is not strictly necessary to have items from all five of these catego-ries for this activity, but a variety of them is preferable to using only one example — 1. a small quantity of coins, including several denominations and several of the new U.S. quarters in the “U.S. States” series (or equivalent coinage for Canada, etc.); possibly add foreign coins to the mix as well, as well as metal washers, buttons, bottle caps, and other small round objects; 2. several six-sided dice with imprinted dots and at least one with numerals (hopefully also im-printed); 3. a set of measuring spoons (and/or a measuring cup with a raised “full” line), a table knife, a pitcher or bowl, some quantity of a granular substance (salt, sugar, sand; whatever you judge to be simplest and best for cleaning up, based on where your class meets — you could substitute water for this test, it depends on whether you have carpet, etc.), paper towels; 4. a key ring holding several keys of varying sizes — perhaps with two being very close in appearance — at least one of the keys should open a lock available in the classroom area, perhaps a pad-lock; 5. one each of several kinds of fruit, particularly at least two citrus fruit of fairly equiva-lent size (orange, nectarine, lime, lemon, grapefruit) but additionally three or so others: apple, pear, banana, grape, plum.

The purpose of this activity is multi-fold: for students to test their ability to identify or use com-

mon items without seeing them; for students to confront unexpected obstacles to such identifica-

tion or use; for students to suggest ways they could get around these obstacles. To add extra in-

terest to the process you could offer to time each student’s efforts at a particular task, having all

be blindfolded at the same time (thus distracting them from the idea that some of the tests may

involve a trick to get around), or you could blindfold one student at a time but switch items with

each new student so that none will have seen another student attempting the exact challenge

they receive.

Identity Unknown

Unit 8-TA-C-8

Quest Connection

Procedure: Either blindfold one student at a time, or all at once, depending on whether you

will be having all of the students attempt the same identification exercises or not. You will not

necessarily have time to do all of these exercises, the variety is provided so you can choose

what works best for your class situation.

1. With the coins, ask the student(s) to calculate how much change there is in the pile. Do not

warn them that the pile is not uniformly coinage, and not necessarily coinage of only one na-

tion (U.S., Canada, etc.). If they have successfully completed their count, ask them to identify

something about the coins which will be impossible for them, for example request that they

find a particular quarter in the “states” series for a coin collection.


Unit 8-TA-C-9

2. With the dice, ask the student to roll the dice, and then calculate their roll. (Even finding the

dice after they roll them could be awkward, don’t make this too easy on them, let them think it

through.) They should be able to add up the dots fairly well, but when they discover the die that

has numerals imprinted on it they may get confused.

3. With the measuring spoons and/or measuring cup, perform a brief test in how well a student

can measure out a certain quantity of salt and/or water into a container (perhaps 3/4 of a cup, or

3 teaspoons). Offer the possibility of leveling the measuring spoon with a dull knife available on

the table, but don’t advise the student on which spoon to use or what level is what in the meas-

uring cup (you could describe what sizes are there, and let them figure what to do).

4. With the keys, ask the student to figure out which goes with the lock. If it is a padlock, hand

it to them, otherwise start them out by the door or cabinet the key opens and let them locate the

keyhole. (The key ring should not have any attachments that allow them to easily tell an order to

the keys, rather it should just be a round ring. That way if they drop the ring they won’t auto-

matically know which keys they have already tried.)

5. Provide the student with pieces of fruit one at a time, and ask them to identify them. With the

citrus in particular, let them smell it if they need to. If you wish, you could expand this example

by letting them peel a citrus fruit blindfolded to eat.

Either when the students have completed all the exercises they will be doing, or individually

while they remain blindfolded after attempting an exercise, have them suggest ways that they

could improve in the desired task if they were blind (for example by putting rubber pieces of

different shapes on the ends of keys, one square and one round, etc., so they can easily distin-

guish them). The students will realize that in some cases it would not be possible for them to

achieve the goal (like knowing the minting date of a coin they are given in change at a store)

and that they would need to seek assistance.

The blind man in the story made it to the Pool of Siloam without Jesus’ help. He had grown

up without sight and was used to it. Probably he could do many things without assistance that we would be hesitant to try. But some things certainly were outside his abilities. Like-

wise, when people lack Christ’s power there are things they simply cannot do. We need to remember to thank Jesus for all the help He gives us, and remember to rely on that help.

Close


Quest Connection

GAME

Materials: A piece of cloth to be used as a blindfold; possibly padding in case of falls, or some

advance time spent in moving furniture around; if you want, you could provide students with

canes (possibly yard sticks) to feel their way with.

Procedure: Blindfold one student, and direct that one to listen for a particular student to direct

them in walking across the classroom (or in some other room, or even outside — determine this

based on convenience and safety of the location). Advise the student to walk slowly and care-

fully. Direct the student guide to stand next to the blindfolded student where they begin their

journey, and to be careful in their instructions. Set a goal, like finding a certain piece of chalk or

a book, and bringing it back to the guide.

When the exercise is over, remove the blindfold and ask the previously blindfolded student:

How hard was it to find your way with the directions? Was it hard to trust your guide? Is “blind faith” different from this situation? (Is faith in a guide ever “blind” if you know them, and have some idea that you are in safety?) How much easier was it to find your guide on the way back than to walk away from them? Point out that the two parts of this illustration pre-sent two very different situations we can have in our faith lives. It can be very hard to under-stand the directions we receive in the Bible about walking out in faith, because we are being called upon to go into areas we are unfamiliar with, or cannot perceive clearly. Contrarily, when we have wandered off course as believers we are instructed to go to Jesus — if we can “hear” His voice we can go straight to Him.

This week, be conscious of whether you are listening to Jesus as your guide. Are you acting

in faith, or are you trying to figure everything out for yourself? If you have strayed from

Him, head straight back.

Where Are You?

Close

Unit 8-TA-C-10


Quest Connection

OBJECT LESSON/WORKSHEET Materials: Two copies of the worksheet “The Path to the Pool” for each student, plus one prepared specially for your use (see below, fifth paragraph of Procedure); one or more sharp pen-cils; at least four colors of ink pens — possibly washable markers; a magazine or other writing surface with some give to it; a hard writing surface like a Formica table; pieces of cloth to be used as blindfolds (optional).

Procedure:Distribute the pencils, and pens, and one copy of the worksheet for each participant,

and tell students that they are going to recreate the circumstances of the blind man making his

way to the Pool of Siloam, but that the students will get more than one try at making it there. Ei-

ther have the students work in pairs, with one student “blind” at a time, or you could work with

each student in turn. Let the “blind” students be blindfolded, or have them simply shut their eyes

for this activity. Students should be seated at a table with a hard surface Have the “blind” students look at the worksheet, and tell them to try to memorize the winding path which leads to the pool. After a moment, have them attempt to follow that path without looking at it (whether blindfolded or with their eyes shut). Their partner (if they are in pairs) will hand them a pen and set them at the starting point, then release them and watch them go. If they go off the page entirely they should be told of this, but otherwise given no direction until they either make it to the pool (by whatever path) or give up, or enough time has passed that you feel the need to move to the next step. [Note: if the “blind” students are paired with other students, and are simply closing their eyes, let them look at their attempt and then switch with their part-ner. If blindfolds are being used, it may be simpler to go through the first three steps with one student and switch only then. If the students are all “blind” simultaneously, you can use your judgment on whether to have all of them attempt the exercise at once, but switching off will not be necessary.] Now tell the “blind” students that on their next attempt they will use a different color of ink so their path can be distinguished from the first attempt. Remember to keep track of the order in which the pens are used, whether all students are using the same color at the same time, or by a “seeing” participant making marks at the edge of the page with each pen in turn. Switch the pens, and this time each student will again be started at the right point, but they will be guided by the voice of their partner (or, if all students are playing “blind” at once, by your voice one at a time) as they attempt to follow the path. Probably they still will have problems making it to the pool end-point, but they will do better. On the third effort, again switch the color of ink, but now the “blind” student will attempt the path while the “guide” has their own hand on/around the hand of the “blind” student holding the pen. The “guide” may not simply move the pen along, but they can both speak and nudge when the pen is going off-track. This attempt should work much more smoothly.

A Path To The Pool

Unit 8-TA-C-11


After your students have the chance to discuss the questions, close with prayer. Lord, we thank

You that You are for us, and that You are willing to guide us when we cannot see, and to help us to see better. Please allow us to look to You when we are confused or in need, and

not to be distracted by the other paths that people suggest and follow in this world. Help us to love people, in Your power. Amen.

Close

Unit 8-TA-C-12

After all of the students have completed their third attempt, remove any blindfolds on the stu-

dents. Now you, the teacher, attempt the process (though not, unless you particularly want to,

duplicating the three first efforts). Either at this time, or before the class session, prepare a copy

of the worksheet for your use: place the worksheet on a magazine or other soft writing surface,

on top of a solid hard writing surface. Pressing down hard with a pen, trace the outlines of the

path on the paper, so that there is a trough on the printed side of the worksheet where the lines of

the path are. Then place the worksheet on a hard writing surface like what your students have

been using, and attempt the path without looking. Use a sharp pencil. You should be able to feel

the ridge with the tip of the pencil whenever you are at risk of crossing off the path. Or, you

could use your fingers to feel out the path as you go. You might want to practice this a little be-

fore class so you can really impress your students with how this can work. If you wish, you can

permit your students to attempt this in class as well, or you can send them home with both their

first and second copies of the worksheet to try it later.

Last of all, allow each student to use another pen to follow the path on their first worksheet while

looking at the worksheet.

Next after that? What difficulties did you have in following the path? [Perhaps the pen

slipped, or they lost their sense of direction, or when the guides were offering help they couldn’t

understand what was meant.]

In general, the easiest way to take the path is if you can see it, right? But it is possible, with

a little preparation, or a little help, to make your way to the pool without the use of your

eyes. How does this compare with the way that we, as Christians, are called on to serve

Christ? [Various responses make sense, like that as Christians we have to trust guidance in areas

we cannot see into; preparation or assistance are good to have; we improve by experience; we

may not know how to do things when we first try them, but be able to learn new things from oth-

ers later; even with a “narrow” path there is some room for taking different routes — the prob-

lems come when you leave the path.] What would happen if you were trying to feel the

trough to follow the path, but all of your earlier attempts had been traced out as well?

[Probably it would be too confusing to get very far.] Have you ever been thrown off in your

efforts to follow Jesus by someone else’s experiences or advice that conflicted with what

you thought you were supposed to be doing? Is anyone willing to tell how that happened

with them? Ask your students: Which was the easiest way of following the path? Looking at the lines

you drew, which was the next easiest?


Guilty Or Innocent?

WORKSHEET

Materials: Pencils or pens; copies of the worksheet “Guilty or Innocent?”.

Quest Connection

Procedure: Distribute the worksheets to all of your students. Ask them to consider the following from the top

of the worksheet: Jesus was asked about the blind man in today’s story because it was com-

monly assumed that his blindness was the punishment for a sin, either his or his parents.

The disciples aren’t even pictured as having spoken to the blind man about his own life,

they turn to Jesus for a statement of guilt for one party or the other. Instead, He healed the

man. We can hope that once this happened the disciples were willing to acknowledge that

this was not a man who had been condemned to blindness.

How often do we behave in the same way? Are there things we see in people, or hear about

them, which cause us to find them guilty without ever listening to them? In the area under “Circumstantial Evidence” write things that sometimes have caused you to form conclu-

sions about someone’s character without having checked further with the accused person. Under “Cleared of All Charges” write down whatever might cause you to change your

mind about such a person (or what has caused you to change your mind, if you have al-ready).

After your students have filled out the worksheet, ask if anyone wants to discuss some of their

answers on it. This could lead to a significant conversation about the way that your students treat

others, and how they themselves have been treated. If the subject does not come up on its own,

ask your students how they feel about being judged on their appearance, or on rumors or other

information about them, when they are not personally addressed by the one judging them.

Close

Tell your students: The blind man in our story was not blind because of his own sin, or the

sin of his parents. But in one sense it was due to the sin of his ancestors that he was blind.

If sin had never entered the world we would not have the diseases and other problems

which lead to blindness. The very fact that God’s power needed demonstrating in that

man’s life resulted from the fact that ever since the Garden of Eden God no longer freely

walks with people. We may not be physically blind, but we lack abilities we were always

meant to have had, including the ability to look at God and appreciate God’s glory and

character. Some day, that part of human ability will be restored.

In the meantime, it is up to us to try to see the world with Jesus’ eyes, part of which means

judging people as Jesus judged them, with love and a willingness to know them personally. Let us try to consider those facts this week.

Unit 2-Age-A-9 Unit 8-TA-C-13


What Next?

WORKSHEET

Materials: Pencils or pens; copies of the worksheet “What Next?”

Quest Connection

Procedure: Distribute the worksheets and have your students read the introduction (it invites

them to read the rest of chapter nine, and then provide their story with an ending for the ex-blind

man’s life). Give them time to read and a few minutes to write. You might have the rest of chap-

ter nine read aloud before the students begin writing, as that will help get everyone started at the

same pace.

[Note: if students have difficulty getting into the writing you might suggest some of the follow-

ing issues to address: how the man related to Jesus, his family, and the religious leadership of

Israel. What work did he go on to do? Did his encounters in John 9 shape the rest of his life, his

reputation, etc.?]

When your students are finished writing, ask them what guided their choices in how things would

turn out. Perhaps the man’s gratitude for receiving sight, or the great faith he showed in Jesus,

determined what they think he did with his life. Perhaps they emphasized his lack of training for

dealing with the world as a sighted man — quite likely he had needed to beg for his livelihood

until this moment, but he is untrained in most work. Did the man have a good relationship with

his family? Did he follow Jesus, or remain in the little area of the world he had always known?

How would this man have responded to Jesus’ death, or hearing of His resurrection?

At this point you might tell your students the following: In the modern day surgery sometimes

has given sight to people who have never had it. This does not always go smoothly. A Braille

reader suddenly can be faced with learning to read visually. Long-time friends who are

blind are related to differently. On a very basic level, the input of images can take a while to

learn to interpret, leaving people disoriented. We can hope for the man in our Bible story

that the miracle he underwent affected not only his eyes but the working of his mind, allow-

ing him a smoother transition into interpreting what his eyes revealed. But even if this was

so we can guess that his pattern of life was greatly disrupted by his encounter with Jesus.



If students are willing, have some or all read aloud their endings to the man’s story.

Note aloud what the students emphasized in their stories, whether gratitude, worship, weakness,

etc., then ask them:

What things about your life story with Jesus so far do you expect to affect how your life

proceeds?

If you have already entered a discipleship relationship with Jesus, is that fact something

which you automatically think of as key to your life so far? [You can treat this as a rhetorical

question, rather than calling for people to verbally respond. If there is time, you might ask stu-

dents to write out their answers on the back of the worksheet so that they can take them home

and think about their answers later.]

Close

We easily recognize that the blind man Jesus healed was given an incredible gift. We need

to recognize how great the gifts we have been given are, particularly the gift of learning about Jesus and being able to love Him and follow Him.

Let’s pray:

Lord, thank You for the wonderful gift of Your son, and all of the things that He has done

for us and that He desires to do for us. Please help us to love Him more and more as we

grow to know Him better and better, and allow us to serve as guides for those who do not

yet see His glory. In Jesus’ mighty name we pray this, Amen.


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Words

to the Wise

What I haven’t always seen clearly

What I am looking forward to

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What I am looking forward to

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seeing is believing

blind rage

love at first sight

keep your eyes peeled

blinded to reality

look before you leap

beauty is in the eye of the beholder

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A Path to the Pool

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What Next?

Today you have been considering the encounter Jesus had with a man who was born

blind in John 9:1-12. Now read the rest of the Bible story, which continues to the end of chapter 9. Particularly note that near the end of the chapter Jesus meets up with the

man again. When you have finished reading the chapter, you are going to make some guesses about what the formerly blind man’s life may have been like after the events

John described. Write a story below presenting your ideas about this. You may choose to share your story with the group later on today.

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Guilty or Innocent?

Jesus was asked about the blind man in today’s story because it was commonly assumed

that his blindness was the punishment for a sin, either his or his parents’. The disciples

aren’t even pictured as having spoken to the blind man about his own life, they turn to Je-

sus for a statement of guilt for one party or the other. Instead, he healed the man. We can

hope that once this happened the disciples were willing to acknowledge that this was not a

man who had been condemned to blindness.

How often do we behave in the same way? Are there things we see in people, or hear about them, which cause us to find them guilty without ever listening to them? In the area under

“Circumstantial Evidence” write things that sometimes have caused you to form conclu-sions about someone’s character without having checked further with the accused person.

Under “Cleared of All Charges” write down whatever might cause you to change your mind about such a person (or what has caused you to change your mind, if you have al-

ready).

Circumstantial Evidence Cleared of All Charges

This week’s Key Quest Verse says:

“For God, who said, ‘Light shall shine out of darkness,’ is the One who has shone in our hearts to

give the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.” 2 Corinthians 4:6

It is through the light of God shown in Christ that we can see clearly. That includes our ability to

look at others in a fresh way. We also can rejoice that God gives us the opportunity to be looked at

in a new way. Take some time now to thank God in prayer for the mercy that has been extended to

you, and to ask God for help in viewing others mercifully as well.

My Journal Dear Journal,Dear Journal,Dear Journal,Dear Journal, This week I have been thinking about the man who This week I have been thinking about the man who This week I have been thinking about the man who This week I have been thinking about the man who was born blind. I’m living a life that is different from his was born blind. I’m living a life that is different from his was born blind. I’m living a life that is different from his was born blind. I’m living a life that is different from his life in tons of ways, and I am blessed in many ways. life in tons of ways, and I am blessed in many ways. life in tons of ways, and I am blessed in many ways. life in tons of ways, and I am blessed in many ways. My life is different because:My life is different because:My life is different because:My life is different because:

Teenage

unit 8—jesus and the blind man seeing the...

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